A known roof apparatus for a vehicle, disclosed in JP1980-087621A, JP2002-274182A, and JP2000-190735A (that will be referred to as References 1, 2, and 3) opens and closes an opening portion formed in a roof portion of the vehicle by moving a movable panel in a longitudinal direction of the vehicle. The roof apparatus is a so-called inner sliding roof apparatus. According to the inner sliding roof apparatus, when being in an opening operation, the movable panel slides and retracts under the roof portion. A garnish (or cover) covering functional components for opening and closing operations of the movable panel is provided at the inner sliding roof apparatus described in References 1, 2, and 3.
Meanwhile, a so-called outer sliding roof apparatus is also known as a roof apparatus for a vehicle. In the outer sliding roof apparatus, a movable panel is in an opening operation while remaining in a tilted-up state (a state where the movable panel rotates around a front end portion so as to move a rear end portion upward). In the case of the opening movement of the movable panel, a clearance is generated between the rear end portion of the movable panel and a roof portion at sides of an opening portion in a width direction of the vehicle. In addition, functional components for opening and closing operations of the movable panel may be exposed at an interior space of the vehicle, therefore deteriorating an appearance of the roof apparatus, which is seen from the interior space of the vehicle. For example, in a case where the roof apparatus according to References 1, 2, and 3 is applied to the outer sliding roof apparatus, the outer sliding roof apparatus is configured to move in the opening direction in a manner to be in the tilted-up state; therefore, the functional components may be seen or not be covered from the interior space of the vehicle when the movable panel is in fully closed and opened states, a tilt-up operation, and the opening operation. That is, any means to eliminate the specific drawback of the outer sliding roof apparatus is not disclosed in the roof apparatus according to References 1 to 3.
A need thus exists for an outer sliding roof apparatus for a vehicle, which is not susceptible to the drawback mentioned above.